Review Summary: At the very least, it is a significant leap from Vladimir's previous work. But, I feel that this album has the potential to be metal album of the year.
Mirrorthrone, or should I say Vladimir Cochet, has created somewhat of a rift in the metal community since the release of Carriers of Dust in 2006. On one side, people praising it for combining the likes of classical piano, death metal, and black metal all into one convenient package. On the other, people objecting these claims stating that it is a completely overrated album with unplayable and, to some, unlistenable programed drum beats. For me, I was leaning towards the first camp, but the other group's argument was understandable. Regardless of your opinion of Carriers, it is easy to tell even within the first few seconds of the first track that Gangrene easily succeeds its predecessor and then some.
As mentioned earlier, Carriers featured some almost laughably unplayable drum beats and it is instantly noticeable that the drums here are leagues more organic. Sure, there are still some questionable sections, but nowhere near as ridiculous as the "LAWL 1000 BPM FILLS!" found in various sections on Carriers. This is, obviously, the first major improvement over Carriers but Vladimir doesn't stop there. The vastly improved drumming is accompanied by vastly improved guitar work too. In Carriers, the guitar work mainly consisted of tremolo picking that harmonized and followed what the vocals were doing and for the most part, that worked. But here, the instrument stands on its own and this is evident, perhaps best, on No One By My Side. The bass is still somewhat inaudible, but is given its own sections but this is not really a problem due to Vladimir's excellent use of the synths.
Besides the instrumentation, the overall feel of the album is, at the very least, a hell of a lot more consistent than Cochen's previous work. The song lengths are closer together and the composition just feels tighter. If there is one complaint that I have though, it's that almost all of the songs start off with a lone piano playing. This is fine, but it would've been nice if he changed it up a bit.
So this is indeed a more cohesive whole, but I don't recommend listening to it all at once except maybe upon the first listen. This is because some of the songs tend to bleed into each other and sound the same if you take in too much after awhile. It took me a few listens to start to really appreciate the intricacies of the songs, but it was well sticking through. You may tire of the whole neo-classical thing that Vlad has going, as I was starting to, but just before things got boring I was hit with quite possibly the most brilliant song put forth so far this year, So Frail. This song really encompasses the sheer ambition of this one man composing modern metal symphonies into an amazing six minutes and forty seconds of pure metal bliss.
With all of these things together, one may be prepared to hear more of the same but this is simply untrue. This is mainly because Vladimir has opted to use his beautiful clean voice a hell of a lot more this time. While this does detract from the fact that he saved this ace in the hole until that epic part on A Scream to Express the Hate of a Race, it really adds a nice dynamic to his song writing that really pushes Gangrene to the next level. His harsh vocals are still as they ever were, be it good or bad, but with this move it seems like Vladimir has finally found a nice niche between all of the genres he has blended together.
Overall, Gangrene is superior to Carriers in every way. To some, that may sound pretentious, to others it is unsurprising. Either way you look at it, it's true. For those who have yet to hear Mirrorthrone, look no further for a great starting point to this neo-classical death metal band with hints of black metal! At the very least, Gangrene can be seen as a significant step up from Cochet's past work. But, in my mind Gangrene is easily a contender for metal album of the year.
